Rubber footwear having a flared upper



June 1953 E. GOTTSCHALK 2,643,468

RUBBER FOOTWEAR HAVING A FLARED UPPER Filed Aug. 4, 1951 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 14 7 T GENE) June 30, 1953 E. GOTTSCHALK 2,643,458

} RUBBER FOOTWEAR HAVING A FLARED UPPER Filed Aug. 4, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. EV/L GOTKS'C'bMZK ATTOIEWE Y Patented June 30, 1953 RUBBER FOOTWEAR HAVING A FLARED UPPE Emil Gottschalk, New York, N. Y., assignor to Gem Rubber Corporation, New York, N. Y., a

corporation of New York Application August 4, 1951, Serial No. 240,360

1 Claim. 1

The invention relates to an article of footwear, and more particularly to an overshoe, adapted to protect the ankle portion of womens legs, as well as the bottom portion of their clothes, their shoes and stockings in bad and rainy weather.

This overshoe may be preferably produced from natural rubber, latex, synthetic rubber, elastic plastics and the like materials and the clipping method may be used for its manufacture.

It is the primary object of this invention to produce a light, elastic article of footwear to be pulled over a walking shoe for protection against water, dirt, mud and slush.

It is also an object of the invention to create an article of protective footwear combining the light, soft, elastic and snugly fitting properties of an overshoe with a very pleasant decorative shape and outstanding eye appeal.

It is a further object of the invention to produce an article of the above recited type which can be easily folded into a small package and carried in a womans purse or bag.

A particularly typical embodiment of this invention will now be described in detail and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings- Figs. 1, 2 and are side views of the footwear in its three operative positions;

Figs. 3 and 4 are vertical sectional views on lines 3-3 and 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a side view of a mold for use in the manufacture of this overshoe; and

Figs. '7, 8 show vertical sectional views on lines 7l and 8-8 of Fig. 6.

The overshoe A shown in the attached drawings consists of a sole I provided with an opening 2, preferably provided by cutting, at its heel end, an upper 3 and a shaft 4, the latter being indicated in Fig. 5 by two dotted lines.

Shaft 4 transits upwardly into a circumferentially widening extension forming a collar 5.

The shoe heel and the foot of the wearer are indicated in Figs. 1, 2 and 5 by dot and dash lines.

The structural shape of this collar 5, which serves as the protective guard against rain, mud, dirty water, snow, slush and acts at the same time as a dirt accumulator, is the main element of the invention.

This collar 5, which at its front portion upwardly extends in a straight line but has at the top of the rear portion a small upper incurved edge, is shaped to impart to the elastic footwear, and particularly to its shaft portion 4, a sufficient rigidity to preserve the upright position, shown in Fig. 5, and its fully and partly bent-over positions, shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

This shape stability and adaptability is indeed remarkable and surprising with an elastic and particularly a rubber overshoe, because by the entire or partial doubling-over of the collar 5 from its upright position of Fig. 5, an inner tension is created in the shaft with a tendency to restore this upright shape.

In all positions shown in Figs. 1, 2, 5, the collar 5 serves as a protector against mud, dirt, dirty water, snow and at the same time acts as a dirt accumulator.

As shown in the drawing, the collar 5 expands circumferentially; this expansion or enlargement commences at the front of the collar and remains substantially the same along the lateral sides thereof, but flares out considerably at the rear end, where it reaches a maximum projection having an incurved portion at its upper end. The top edge of the overshoe is preferably produced by cutting off the article just beneath groove 23, Fig. =6.

If pulled over a shoe, the front part 8 of the collar 5 fits tightly, whereas its rear end it] protrudes from the leg of the wearer, to assuredly keep away dirt and dirty water, snow and the like. The inside space of the bent-over collar 5 serves, as already mentioned above, as an effective dirt obstructor and collector.

A mold for the manufacture of the above described elastic article of footwear and particularly an elastic overshoe for women is shown in Figs. '6, '7, 8.

The sole, upper and shaft forming portions of the molds are shaped in conformity with the shape of the shoe.

The shaft forming portion 2| of the mold starting from a dotted line, Fig. 6, extends into a col lar forming portion 22. This collar forming portion extends at its front section along a substantially straight line, is enlarged along its lateral side portions and extends into a maximum projection at the rear side, which at its upper end has a small curved-in portion; it is this shape of the upper end of the collar which enables the maintenance of the footwear in the three positions shown in Figs. 1, 2, 5.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent, is as follows.

A rubber overshoe having a sole portion and an upper, the lower portion of the upper conforming substantially to the shoe for which it is to be used up to ankle height, the circumferential portion above said lower portion being circumferentially continuous and flared outwardly at the rear thereof, the rear end of said flaredout portion having an incurved portion at its upper edge, whereby said flared portion may be folded upon itself to form a collar providing an outstanding rear portion which forms a splash protector and whereby said incurved upper rear 15 edge results in setting up a tension in the folded position which holds the collar in place.

EMIL GOTTSCHALK.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Name Date Costellow May 28, 1929 LHollier June 18, 1929 Valentine July 29, 1930 Crockett July 19, 1932 Dunbar May 5, 1936 Quennard. Feb. 28, 1939 Van Dinter Feb. 22, 1949 Marx et al. Nov. 11, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Apr. 26, 1904 

